A NUTRITIONAL INVESTIGATION OF HOMELESS PATIENTS WITH TUBERCULOSIS

Abstract

A retrospective case-control study was performed with TB patients who were admitted to our hospital over the two years from Jan. 1997 to Dec. 1998 and healthy men who underwent a health screening in April 2000 in the same hospital. Thirty-two non-homeless TB patients (the first control group) and 32 healthy men (the second control group) were matched with 32 homeless TB patients according to age. All 3 groups were male. Total protein, albumin, cholesterol, cholinesterase, hemoglobin level and lymphocyte count on admission were significantly lower in the homeless patients than in the non-homeless patients and healthy men. Albumin, cholesterol, cholinesterase, hemoglobin level, white blood cell count and lymphocyte count on admission were significantly lower in non-homeless patients than healthy men. Height, weight and body mass index were significantly lower in the homeless patients than in the healthy men. However, there were no significant differences in these body characteristics between the homeless and non-homeless patients. Twenty-five percent of homeless patients died during hospitalization, compared with 6.3 percent of non-homeless patients. Lymphocyte counts among homeless patients who died during hospitalization were significantly lower than among those who survived during hospitalization. Total protein, albumin, cholesterol, cholinesterase, hemoglobin level and weight were lower in patients who died than in those who survived, although the differences were statistically not significant.